This invention relates to a suction cup for gripping and handling small, delicate objects, such as chocolate candies, for rapidly transferring them from a mold to a storage bin where they remain until they are packaged. To achieve this, one or more suction cups are mounted at the end of a high speed robot arm or industrial processing device. The suction cup is of the flexible, elastic, conical gripping type, and grasps the object by suction through a vacuum tube installed on the robot.
The problem of handling and gripping small, delicate confectionery and food objects as well as pharmaceutical items, for example, is particularly difficult to resolve given that the suction cup must meet all of the following criteria:
(1) it must grip the delicate object very gently to avoid damage;
(2) the suction cup must be adaptable to the various geometric shapes assumed by candy (cylindrical, multi-faceted, ovoid, spherical, multi-faceted with sharp ridges or rounded edges, smooth or grooved surfaces or surfaces displaying regular or irregular contours depending on the designs or items included on the candy's surface);
(3) the gripping or grasping action must be stable so that the object is retained in spite of the high-speed operation of the robot and the vibrations that may result at the end of the robot arm. The object grasped must also be held in stable position in order to maintain the position and orientation of the grip from the moment the candy is grasped until the time it is released, as well as during repeated processing operations, which requires a certain degree of rigidity together with the above-mentioned flexibility; and
(4) the components of the suction cup must be made of sanitary materials suitable for use with foods and must be compatible with the small confectionery objects both in terms of chemical composition and compliance with regulations governing the handling of food products.
Most prior art suction cups for gripping small, delicate confectionary objects comprise a hollow cylindrical body having one end mounted on a robot arm or the like and attached to a vacuum line, and the other end flared in a trumpet or conical shape. Although such suction cups are made of deformable material their degree of flexibility is limited, and their flared or conical extremities can thus only be applied to relatively flat surfaces, as disclosed in French Pat. No. 2,126,174.